When You Smile
by weirdgirl42
Summary: Third in the "Be There" series. Follows "To Be There" and "Most Frightening." Mainly involved Chloe and Eli but is definitely Rush/Chloe.


_Disclaimer: I own a decent computer and six pairs of shoes. That's about it._

_Author's Note: This is the third story in the "Be There" series. It follows "To Be There" and "Most Frightening." You're gonna wanna read those first._

**When You Smile**

Chloe felt his eyes on her. "You can sit if you want," she said. She heard him take the seat across from her and she looked up from the lists of Ancient words she was studying. Eli was fidgeting in his seat, not quite meeting her eye.

Five days before they had been brought back to Destiny after having been stranded in a cave-in. Eli had been standing in the corridor watching as Chloe had reunited with Rush and their relationship had been revealed to many of the leaders of the crew. This was the first time since then that Eli had come anywhere near Chloe. She knew it had been a shock and that her friend would need time to process the new information. But she had still missed him.

"You can ask me you know," she said when after a few minutes he still hadn't spoken. "I know you must be curious." His eyes finally locked with hers, but instead of the hurt she had expected, they were filled only with confusion.

"Why?" The word rolled out of his mouth. It wasn't accusing or a condemnation, it was merely an inquiry. The same voice he used when he we asking about one of the ship's systems or when he was wondering about the contents of the food being served.

"It's hard to explain," she replied honestly. "After we were captured by the aliens, he was the only one who understood. We became friends. Then after a while, the relationship we had became more important than the experience we'd lived through. So, things changed and evolved."

"What about Matt?"

Again, Chloe knew Eli well enough to know that the question was not meant to be hurtful or accusing. Eli was the kind of person who wanted as much information as possible in order to understand a situation. It was one of the reasons he tended to freak out under pressure.

"Matt and I...we were never going to be more than a temporary thing. We needed someone and it made sense to turn to each other." At this she a brief flash of pain cross Eli's face. Reaching out, she placed her hand over his. "I needed you more than I needed Matt. I still do."

Eli leaned back on the bench, his eyes bright with understanding. He squeezed her hand and nodded. "Are we good?" he asked, his way of apologizing for his avoidance of her.

"We're good." They chatted for a while longer, Eli caught her up on the projects he was working on and Chloe demonstrated how much Ancient she was picking up. She was just asking for his help on a particularly difficult phrase when a shadow came over the papers.

"I do believe that is cheating," Rush said as he took a seat next to Chloe.

Eli watched their interaction closely. It was the first time he had really seen them together, other than that day outside the shuttle bay. They did not sit so close that they were touching but there was a complete ease between them that was almost palpable. Rush's whole body seemed more relaxed than usual, even behind the neutral expression he nearly always wore. But the thing Eli noticed most was the fact that Chloe was smiling.

It wasn't the mirthful smile she often held while the two of them joked around and played with the kinos. And, gratefully, it wasn't the forced smile he'd often seen her put on for Matt after her abduction. No, it was a calm smile, a content smile. Eli thought she'd never looked more beautiful.

"Technically," Chloe was saying, "I was only asking for help. That's not really cheating. And I wasn't aware this was some sort of exam."

Rush gave a quiet chuckle and Eli almost did a double take. The doctor was bent over his tray of food, nothing about his posture indicated that he was in any kind of a jovial mood. But when he looked over at Chloe, telling her that an exam wasn't such a bad idea, Eli could see that his eyes were bright with laughter.

"Eli, when do you think you'll have those calculations finished?" Rush asked, his gaze moving from Chloe to the other man.

"Um...soon," Eli replied. "Probably take me another couple of hours."

Rush nodded. "Good."

As the three of them finished their meals Eli felt a little like he'd been thrown into the Twilight Zone. But then he remembered Chloe's smile and realized, maybe the Twilight Zone wasn't so bad.

**The End**

_please review. I promise the next story will more prominently feature Rush and Chloe. _


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